NEW MILFORD -- New Milford had its chances, but Bunnell had Issac Vann and in the end that was the difference.

Vann scored six of his 22 points in overtime and Bunnell won its third straight game with a 53-50 victory over the Green Wave in an SWC matchup Monday at New Milford High School.

The game was a matchup of one of the SWC's top teams in Bunnell and a young New Milford team still learning how to win close games. The Bulldogs improved to 13-4 overall and 10-2 in the SWC, while the Green Wave fell to 4-13, 2-10.

"I'm really proud of the way we fought and how we played defense," New Milford coach Wayne Thrall said. "We did a good job making it hard for them, especially in the second half. We just didn't finish a few plays on offense down the stretch."

The Green Wave made Vann and the Bulldogs work for their points for most of the game, and when the Bulldogs did get open looks, they were often unable to knock them down.

"We started out all right, but went cold and didn't really shoot the ball well," Bunnell coach Pat Yerina said. "We knew New Milford would play hard and sometimes you have these kind of games during a season and you have to find a way to pull it out."

Bunnell was fortunate to even get to overtime after a hectic closing sequence that pretty much summed up New Milford's season to date.

The Green Wave's Joey McKay made one of two free throws with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 47. Teammate Drew Hansen rebounded McKay's miss and New Milford called a timeout.

The Bulldogs kept the ball away from McKay after he inbounded it, and New Milford turned it over on a traveling violation in the corner with 11 seconds on the clock.

Bunnell returned the favor with a walk with 2.4 seconds left and a last-second heave by New Milford was well short, sending the game to overtime.

"That has kind of been the story of the season for us," Thrall said. "We have some young kids out there in big spots and they are still learning, and as a team we are still learning how to win the close games."

It took nearly three minutes for someone to score in the extra period and that someone was Vann, who got isolated at the top of the key and hit a pull-up 15-footer to give Bunnell a 49-47 lead. New Milford missed a jumper that Vann rebounded and the senior hit both ends of a one-and-one to extend the lead to 51-47 with 12.3 seconds to play.

New Milford missed a 3 on the other end and Vann iced it with another pair of free throws. McKay scored the Green Wave's only points in overtime with a three-quarter-court 3-pointer at the horn.

"We are in a good spot. We are in the playoffs and have played pretty well lately," Yerina said. "We weren't flat and we didn't look past them. We hadn't played in a week and we had some really good practices, so we'll just move on. These kind of games can be good for you."

The Bulldogs got off to a fast start and led 17-7 after a first quarter paced by six points apiece by Vann and Ryan Pittman. The Green Wave cut the lead to 32-26 at the break and 42-38 entering the fourth.